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1st |
2nd |
Final |
Columbia (7-5) |
25 |
33 |
58 |
St. Francis (NY) (2-12) |
27 |
40 |
67 |
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Peter Aquilone Court – Brooklyn, NY |
Boxscore |
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Keys to the Game |
Key sequence |
Mack Montgomery gave Columbia its first lead of the second half with a three-pointer at the 6:34 mark, but Jamaal Womack knotted the game at 52 with a free throw 17 seconds later. Womack missed the second, but St. Francis got the ball back out of bounds, and Robert Hines put the Terriers back on top with one of two at the line. Ben Nwachukwu missed a layup and John Gooden hit a jumper to put the hosts up three. The Lions sandwiched missed three-pointers around a blown front end of a one-and-one by Gooden, who atoned for that with a three-point play with 3:07 left to stretch the Terrier advantage to 58-52. After nearly two minutes of scoreless futility for both sides, Gooden got a layup and foul to make it an eight-point game with 1:09 remaining.
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Key sign it was over |
A K.J. Matsui three made it a five-point game with 1:02 left, and after a one-for-two performance at the line, Columbia had a chance to further cut into its deficit. But Patrick Foley couldn’t get a layup to drop and Gooden hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight. Matsui’s fifth three-pointer of the half made it 63-58 with 37 ticks left, but the Terriers broke the Lion press and Gooden finished with a layup at the other end. When Foley misfired on a three-pointer, Gooden hit two free throws to push the lead to nine with just 22 seconds left.
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Key performance |
Womack finished with 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting from three and 6 of 12 overall. He also dished out four assists, hauled in two rebounds, and grabbed a steal. Womack scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, playing a big role in keeping St. Francis on top when Columbia heated up from the outside.
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Key statistic |
The Terriers owned a big 30-14 edge in free throw attempts and outscored the Lions 19-8 at the line. St. Francis was 12 of 21 at the stripe in the second half.
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Notes
– Matsui was the top scoring Lion with 15 points — all on three-pointers.
– Nwachukwu and John Baumann both were limited by foul trouble in the first half. Baumann eventually got somewhat untracked and finished with 12 points and six rebounds, but Nwachukwu finished with only four points in 22 minutes.
– Columbia went 0-for-8 from outside the arc in the first half. The Lions did heat up after halftime, hitting 8 of 14 (57.1 percent) in the second half.
– Niko Scott had a rough night, missing all seven shots — including five from long range.
– The win was only the second on the season for St. Francis.
– Columbia will take the court next on Tuesday, January 2 at 7:00 pm ET when the Lions travel to Bethlehem to face a Lehigh (5-10) team that is undefeated at home.
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